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Too often, the fitness and health club industry is viewed strictly by the bottom line or interpreted from company or industrywide trends. But there are plenty of other stories and trends to be found inside the four walls of almost any type of fitness club.

What better way to find those stories than to take a tip from the late John Belushi and the rest of his Delta House brothers and go on a road trip?

The editorial staff of Club Industry traveled by planes, trains and automobiles to visit various clubs from different regions around the country. Occasionally, they got lost along the way or found an empty club waiting for them and maybe found a toga party or two as well.

Tales of those visits - without the toga party stories - continue, ripped out of each staff member's own travel log.

This month, editor-in-chief John Agoglia, completes our trek with Part 3 of the journey chronicling his travels from the Northeast.

Day 1

As the alarm rings at 3:30 a.m. to make it to Logan Airport for my flight to Burlington, VT, I only wish I finished packing last night and got to hit snooze at least once this morning. But in the end, I'm pretty excited to get out and see what is happening in gyms across the Northeast.

After a relatively uneventful - if sleepless - hour or so flight and a rather painless stop at the Avis counter I'm off to visit my first club, Twin Oaks Sport and Fitness in South Burlington. Twin Oaks, part of a four-club chain that offers a multitude of activities for members who are far too often relegated to the indoors during the harsh winters - a common trait for clubs in the Northeast.

At first glance, Twin Oaks is not unlike many suburban clubs: roomy, minimally decorated and welcoming.

In reading a brochure while waiting for the club's general manager, I notice that the facility has a full complement of equipment, classes and other programming options. But perhaps the thing that sets Twin Oaks apart from other clubs is the concentration and emphasis it places on children. Sure, plenty of clubs in the area have increasing offerings for children such as daycare or camps and even programming, but how many run a private kindergarten or have acquired a performing arts center? Well, Twin Oaks has.

"Our Kids in Fitness program starts with kids at eight weeks of age and runs through a private kindergarten that serves about 80 kids from each of the towns of South Burlington, Williston and Essex," says Michael Feitelberg, general manager of Twin Oaks. "It is a nationally accredited program that offers the same kind of curriculum as other pre-schools and kindergartens. But we have the opportunity to offer swimming, racquetball and a climbing wall. It is the opportunity to get young people exposed to health and fitness in a way they can't at a traditional preschool."

That is not to say that the adult crowd is left out of the Twin Oaks Sports & Fitness experience as programming and unique offerings for adults are a high priority for the club.

# posted by Medical Information : 1:24 AM